Saturday Cardinal Couple --Volleyball, Softball register wins

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball downs USF 3-1 in Tampa

-Softball sweeps doubleheader

-Soccer falls on road to Marquette

Lola's 26 kills power Volleyball to win over USF

The University of Louisville Volleyball team improved to 13-2 with a hard-fought 20-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-23 win over the University of South Florida yesterday evening in Tampa. Lola Arslanbekova led the way with 26 kills in the Cardinal victory and outside hitter Tanya Lukyanenko added a career high 14 slams in the 3-1 defeat of USF.

Louisville fell behind early in the first contest 12-7 and could not rally to catch the Bulls...dropping the first game of the match by five. Were the Cards a little nervous and unsure of themselves on the road against a quality opponent? 

If they were, their fears and insecurities soon dissipated...UofL gaining a 10-9 lead on USF in the second game, stretching it out to 22-18 and winning going away by seven. 

After the break, Louisville grabbed an early lead in game three and led 15-10 midway through the contest. USF rallied for five straight points though and made this one interesting until the Cards responded with four straight scores to go up 19-15 and hold that advantage for a four-point third game victory.

In the final game, the Cards led most of the way...with advantages of 13-9 and 20-17 before the Bulls tied the battle at 23-23. A Lukyanenko kill and USF error provided the final points UofL needed to take the game and match.

Softball takes two with wins over Bellarmine and EKU

Sandy Pearsall's softball squad got the fall pre-season off to a huge start by blasting Bellarmine 10-0 at Ulmer Stadium and squeaking out a close 1-0 victory over EKU in the nightcap.

A seven hit, six run  second inning proved to be all Louisville needed to down the Knights. Caralisa Connell pitched three innings to get the win and Rachel Le Coq fired the final three to preserve the shutout.

The nightcap was a pitchers duel until the bottom of the seventh. Maggie Ruckenbrod reached on a single for the Cards and pinch-runner Chrisanna Roberts scored on Whitney Arion's double an out later to give Louisville the victory. Connell got the win with four strong innings and Le Coq pitched the first three of shutout ball for Louisville.

Soccer falls 2-0 to Marquette in Milwaukee

Lack of offensive production spelled defeat for Karen Ferguson-Dayes soccer tribe yesterday in BIG EAST action.

Louisville surrendered two late second half goals in the loss to the Golden Eagles. The Cards fall to 7-3-1 overall and 2-2-1 in conference play.

Chloe Kiefer recorded eight saves in the loss. The Cards travel to Tampa on Sunday to face the USF Bulls.
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